Janet Aylmer: Julia and the Master of Morancourt

A wider choice of fabrics like silk and fine wines and other luxury goods became available at this time but, during the Napoleonic blockade, could only be obtained by smuggling across the English Channel from France and Spain, with the associated high costs. The transport of goods within the country was being revolutionised by the digging of canals to transport products from mills and factories to the major towns and cities, but personal travel by coach or on horseback was still a slow and uncomfortable business on badly made roads.

The progress of the economy at home could be very uneven. Although many new banks were founded by the gentry and businessmen during the Regency period to invest in land and new technical innovations, a bad harvest or a renewal of the conflict with Napoléon could lead to “a run” on a bank, which could bankrupt its investors, or at best mean that honourable gentleman such as Julia’s father Lewis Maitland saw their incomes severely affected. In that situation, having friends with money or connections, like Harry Douglas or the Earl of Cressborough in my story, could make all the difference until easier times came along.

Another unpredictable aspect of life in the early 1800s was health and survival. Many women, like four of Jane Austen’s own sisters-in-law, died early in childbirth because of the limitations of medical knowledge at the time. Few other health problems were fully understood. A fashionable doctor based in London or one of the spa towns could make a very good living, especially if they obtained a royal patron like Sir William Knighton, but Julia Maitland and her family in my novel had good cause to be fearful about her father’s heart condition. Many events in history would have had a very different outcome if modern medical knowledge had been available.